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PICARDY

The hymn tune PICARDY is from a French folk song, probably as old as the 17th century. "Jesus Christ s'habille en pauvre", ("The Ballad of Jesus Christ") the folksong originally set to this tune, is a story similar to Lazarus and the rich man. In it, Christ goes about in rags looking for charity and receiving only crumbs, while dogs are given rabbits to eat. It first appeared in Chansons popularies des provences de France, 1848. Ralph Vaughan Williams adapted it for use with "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence" and used it in the English Hymnal, 1906.

The tune is named after the French province from which it was thought to originate.